Outboard drive for motor boats



' Dec. 9, 1941. Q s, JOHNSON 65,485

OUTBOARD DRIVE FOR MOTOR BOATS Filed May 8, 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Dec. 9, 1941; c. s. JOHNSON 2,265,485

OUTBOARD DRIVE FOR MOTOR BOATS Filed May 8, 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 a j! r l w ,5 ii 54 7/; I g F/fifi. f0 4.,,,,, [5 7 A? 6 .IV 5

Patented Dec. 9, 1941 OUTBOARD DRIVE FOR MOTOR BOATS Charles Samuel Johnson, Parnell, Auckland, New Zealand Application May 8, 1940, Serial No. 334,030 11 Claims. (Cl. 11517) This invention relates to outboard drives for motor boats of the smaller types used for pleasure, sport and general purposes, the objects of the invention being the provision of an improved form of outboard drive wherein the steering wheel of the boat which may be located at a distance from the outboard drive, will give steering control and retractive control thereof.

With outboard motors, the propeller is located at the bottom of a suspension columnof tubular form through which a drive shaft makes a connection between the propeller and the engine mounted at the top of the column, it being important that the outboard motor be capable of swinging rearward from the transom of the boat if the bottom of the column should encounter a floating object or the sea bottom or beach, as otherwise the motor will be liable to serious damage.

Outboard motors are very subject to striking the shore when run into shallow water due to the propeller usually being well below the bottom of the boat.

The present invention has been devised for the purpose of providing an improved outboard drive wherein the movements of the steering Wheel give simultaneous rudder and retractive control, so that in the event of the boat operator seeing some object which the boat will have to pass over, or when the depth of water shallows to an extent which would not be safe, he can completely retract the propeller and suspension column from the water by mere operation of the steering wheel, the retractable characteristics also enabling the engine to be more easily started up with the propeller out of the water, to be run idle as for tuning-up purposes, and enable a clutch like action to be achieved when the propeller and the suspension column are lowered into the water with the engine running.

Broadly the invention comprises an outboard drive for motor boats wherein operation of the steering wheel or steering control means of the boat, is adapted to simultaneously eiiect rotary rudder movement and radial retractive movement from the water of the suspension column on the outer end of which the rudder and the propeller are disposed.

In describing the invention reference will be made to the accompanying drawings in which Figure 1 shows a partial elevation of the outboard propeller drive mechanism with a portion of the thrust ring broken away to show the ring gear and stay rail behind same,

Figure 2 is a partially sectioned plan view of Fig. 1,

Figure 3 is a sectional side elevation of Fig. 1 including the propeller and its drive case,

Figure 4 is a sectional view on line A-B of Fig. 1,

Figure 5 is a sectional plan view on line CD of Fig. 4,

Figure 6 is an enlarged sectional view of the retraction stop mechanism,

Figure '7 shows the outboard propeller drive mechanism as applied to the transom of a boat, the simultaneous retractive movement and rudder movement being indicated and Figure 8 is a similar view to Fig. '7 but showing the fully retracted position Whereat the apparatus can be locked by the retractive stop mechanism.

The invention comprises a suspension base I of circular drum form from one side of which a boss 2 will extend, the'periphery of the opposite side of the base I having an annular stay rail 3 extending therefrom which also includes'at its periphery a gear ring 4, the stay rail 3 and the gear ring 4 being concentric with the boss 2.

The interior side 5 '(see Fig. 3) of the-base I has a bearing face 6 for a suspension case 1 which is adapted to be rotatable within said base I' and is held in place by a bearing ring, 8, studs and nuts 9 which secure the latter to the base I also being usable as the means for securing the base I to the'transom ill of the boat, the boss 2 being adapted to project withinthe boat byway of the hole H cut through the transom ID.

The boss 2 may be used to carry a tube (not shown) to locate or centre the engine within the boat, small powered engines being, if desired, directly attached to the boss 2.

The suspension case i is of basin. shape with conical rim l2 engaged by the bearing ring 8, the inside of the rim having an internal gear ring 13, the end of the suspension case 1 opposite to its rim l2 carrying a bearing l4 and a mounting base IS, the latter and the bearing l4 being concentric with the suspension base I.

The bearing l4 revolvably supports the horizontal drive shaft [6 which passes through the suspension case I and through the boss 2 of the suspension base I, to be coupled directly or 0th erwise connected in any known manner to the engine which is mounted within the boat, the boss 2 being. capable of acting as further bearing means for the shaft I (i if so desired, although for the most part ingeneral cases, this will not a; be necessary.

The suspension column l9 Will extend to justbeyond the annular stay rail 3 and will terminate in a worm gear housing 25, the suspension column also having as integral portions thereof, a worm housing 26 and a thrust block 27.

The worm housing 26 is disposed to one side of the worm gear housing (see Fig. 4) andrevolvably holds a worm 28 and its drive shaft 29 parallel to the horizontal drive shaft Hi.

The Worm drive shaft 29-propects through the inner end of the worm housing 26 and has a pinion 30 secured thereto whichmeshe's with the gear ring*4' of the suspension base I, the worm housing 26 havinga cover 3| at its outer end, the worm 28 being in mesh with the worm gear'32 which is revolvably disposed within the-worm gear housing 25, said worm gear 32 being secured at the top end 'of the tubular rudder stock 33.

A thrust ring 34 bears atits inner face against" the annular stay rail 3, said ring 34 having a flange-35 at its inner edge to retain it concentric with the suspension base I, its outer face hav ing two lugs 36 (see Fig.5) extending therefrom at the point where the suspension column l9 crosses same, theselugs 36 forming the means whereby bolts 31 secure the said suspension column I!) via its thrust block 21 tothe thrust ring 34.

The suspension column l9 has column tube 38- rigidly secured to within its bore 24, securement being obtained by such means as a bolt 39 (see Fig. 5) extending across the thrust'block 21 and clamping bushes 40' and 4| through which it passes so as to clamp the said bushes 40 and 4| against the outer wall of the tube 38.

The suspension tube 38 extends through the worm 'gear'housingl25 and the tubular rudder stock 33 and. at its bottom end is rigidly secured to the propeller drive casing 42, thislatter be-- ing of known form enclosing the known bevel gearsand propeller shaft by which the drive from the vertical intermediateshaft- 22 is transmitted to the propeller 43;

The tubular-rudder 'stock33 passes downward from the worm gear 32 through a worm housing cover 44; the stock 33 having an anti-cavitation plate 45 as an itnegral portion thereof below which there is the rudder 45 so shaped as to extendv around the propeller drive casing 42 and to back'and front of the stock 33 (see Fig. 3).

The retraction and rudder control shaft 41 (see Fig. 2) is supported by a bearing which will be integral with thesuspension base I, this shaft 41' extending to within the suspension case 1 whereat it hasa. pinion 49 which meshes with theinternal gear ring 13. of said case 1, the other endor the control shaft being located within the boat. 7

Any suitable known connection can be made forward position within said boat, so that'the' control shaft is rotated by rotation of the steering wheel, a sprocket wheel 50 on the end of the shaft 41 being shown by way of illustrating one form of known connection, a sprocket chain (not shown) passing between this sprocket 5i] and the steering wheel over sheaves and such like.

Retraotion stop mechanism is provided so that when the propeller 43 has been retracted from the water to the desired extent, such mechanism will operate to hold the propeller in the retracted position such as shown in Figure 8.

The retraction stop mechanism comprises (see Fig. 6) a bore 5| extending into the annular stay rail 3 at one of its ends and'through a boss extension 52 of the suspension base I at its other end so that the said boss can project through the transom l0.

Within this bore 5| there is a slidable plunger 53 to which a cable, Bowden wire or like 54 is attached, a compression spring 55 being disposed between the plunger 53 and a cap or nut 56' which screws into the bore 5! at the boss end thereof, the action of the spring 55 being to force the plunger 53 into contact with thethrust ring. 34', there being a hole 51 within the ring- 34 and the thrust block 21 into which the plunger 53 will be projected when the said hole 5'! coin-' cides with the position of the plunger 53 whichwill be located on the horizontal centre line of;

the suspension base I. I

The cable, Bowden wire or like 54 will pass to a position adjacent to the steering wheel sov that the'boat operator can eifect withdrawal of the plunger 53 when desired.

There could obviously be two or more of these retraction stop mechanisms adapted for simultaneous operation so that the propeller 43 could be retracted and held to the port side of the boat or to the starboard sideas shown in Fig. 8 and in cases it may be desired to be able to rejtract and hold the propeller so that it extendsupward from the suspension base I.

On the other hand, although the retractive stop mechanism is a convenience, it is notessential and could be eliminated. 1

With outboard motors, the propeller 43 and its.

drive casing 42 swivel around along with the rudder 46, butwith the apparatus of the invention, the propeller 43 and the drive case 42'thereof will remain stationary and fixed to the suspension column [9 and thereby give-more rigid: support to the propeller end of the suspension.

column.

As an alternative, the propeller 43 and its drivecasing 42 may swivel along with the rudder 43,

this action being obtained by removing the bolt- 39 and the clamping bushes 40 and 4| and allowing the suspension column l9 to act as a bearing for the suspension column tube 38, the

tubular rudder stock 33 and the suspension column tube 38 being clamped togetherin known manner as by a setscrew or like, or could be made as one integralunit.

The term suspension column is broadly used in the art to refer to the whole combination of units of apparatus comprising the suspension column l9, rudder stock 33, suspension tube 38,

rudder 46, drive case 42, propeller 43 and other parts attached to these units, but for clarity purposes, a distinction will be formed by referring to the rudder 46, suspension tube 38, propeller drive casing 42 and propeller 43' as being the outer portion of the suspension column.

In use or operation, the apparatus will be attached by its suspension base I tothe outsidezof' I the transom it of the boat and the horizontal drive shaft I6 iscoupled to the engine located at suitable position within the boat, such,position being dependent on varying conditions such as weight and power of the engine and the size and type of the boat, the inboard engine having various known advantages over the substantially exposed engines as incorporated in outboard motors.

The controls for the engine and for the outboard drive may be located at the fore part of the boat as is usual particularly in the case of speed boats, the steering wheel being connected to the control shaft 4'1 in such manner that the rotation of the steering wheel will effect simultaneous rotation of said control shaft 41 and its pinion 49.

The cable, Bowden wire or like 54 will pass to the control station whereat a simple known type of lever will be disposed to effect withdrawal of the plunger 53 of the retraction stop mecha-' nism and also release of said plunger 53.

When the steering wheel is rotated, the control shaft 41 also rotates so that its pinion 49 in mesh with the internal gear ring l3 causes the suspension case I to also rotate within the suspension base I Such rotation of the suspension case 1 will cause the suspension column l9 and the propeller 43 to swing radially to right or left from the normal vertical and downward position in accordance with the direction of rotation of the steering wheel, but when the suspension case is rotated, such movement will cause the pinion 30 of the worm drive shaft 29 to be rotated due to being in mesh with the gear ring 4 of the stationary suspension base I, such rotation of the worm shaft 29 causing the worm 28 to rotate the worm gear 32 and as the latter is attached to the top of the rudder stock 33, the latter and the rudder 45 are rotated around the suspension column tube 38, the steering of the boat being thus effected with at the same time partial retraction as shown in Fig. 7.

The ratio of the various gears effecting rotation of the rudder 46 will preferably be such that a ninety degree radial movement as shown in Fig. 8 of the drawings will have also effected a ninety degree rotation of the rudder 46.

The radial retraction of the suspension column H! to the position as shown in Fig. 8 will cause the hole 51 to coincide with the plunger 53 and this latter will be pushed into said hole by the compression spring 55 and thus said plunger 53 will hold the suspension column in the retracted position until the operator withdraws same from engagement within the hole 51.

The main thrust caused by the drive of the propeller 43 will be transmitted from the suspension column and its thrust block 21 to the thrust ring 34, which in turn will transmit the thrust through the annular stay rail 3 and the suspension base I to the transom NJ,

The complete retraction of the suspension column from the water will have obvious advantages and the holding of the apparatus in retracted position is advantageous in the case of boats which are to be transported overland on trailers and the like, the suspension column being moved to the position as shown in Fig. 8, or if so desired could be moved to a position vertically above the suspension base I.

With the suspension column tube 38 free to rotate within the suspension column l9 and clamped to the rudder stock 33, the action will be the same as described except in that the drive case 42 and the propeller 43 will swivel along with the rudder 46.

I claim: i

1. An outboard drive for motor boats comprising a suspension base to be fastened to a boat, a suspension column rotatively mounted on said base, a rudder rotatively mounted on said column and means for rotating at substantially the same time said column on said base and said rudder on said column.

2. An outboard drive for motor boats comprising a suspension base to be fastened to a boat, a suspension column rotatively mounted on said base, a rudder rotatively mounted on said column and means for rotating at substantially the .same time and to substantially the same degree said column on said base and said rudder on said column.

3. An outboard drive for motor boats comprising a suspension base to be fastened to a boat, a suspension column rotatively mounted on said base, a rudder rotatively mounted onsaidcolumn and means for rotating at substantially the same time said column on said base and said rudder on said column and manually operated means controlling said means for rotating said column and rudder. I

4. An outboard drive for motor boats comprising a suspension base for securement to the transom of the boat, a suspension case adapted to be rotatable within the suspension'base and having a suspension column extending at right angles therefrom, a rudder, column tube, propeller drive casing and propeller at the outer end of said suspension column, propeller drive means passing from the engine within the boat to the propeller on the outer end of the suspension column, means which when rotated effect radial movement of the suspension column around the suspension base and means which, when the suspension column is radially moved around the suspension base simultaneously effect rotary movement of the rudder, column tube, propeller drive case and the propeller on said suspension column.

5. An outboard drive for motor boats comprising a suspension base to be fastened to a boat, a suspension column mounted on said base to rotate relative thereto about a horizontal axis, a rudder rotatively mounted on said column, a propeller mounted on said column, drive means for said propeller extending through said base and column and means for rotating substantially simultaneously said column and said rudder.

6. An outboard drive for motor boats comprising a suspension base to be fastened to a boat, a suspension casing rotatively mounted upon said base, a suspension column secured to said casing at one end thereof and extending at right anglesthereto, a rudder rotatively mounted upon said column at the free end thereof, a propeller located at the free end of said column, drive means for said propeller extending through said base casing and column, means for rotating said casing relative to said base and thereby swinging said column about a horizontal axis and means cooperating with said rudder effective upon such swinging of said column to rotate said rudder.

7." An outboard drive for motor boats comprising a suspension base to be fastened to a boat, a suspension column rotatively mounted on said base having a circular gear track, a rudder mg with said gear track to. rotate said column relative to said base andrmeans forrotatingsaid rudder substantially simultaneously with the rotation. of saidcolumn about said base;

8; An outboard: drive, for motor boats comprising asuspensionfibasato' be fastened to a boat, a suspension-column rotatively'mounted on said base having a circular internal gear track,,a

rudder rotatably mounted on said column, a-

shaft rotatably manually operated control mounted in said base, a pinion-fixed to said'control shaft'meshing with said gear track to'rotate said columnrelative to said base and means for rotating. said rudder substantially simultaneously with the rotation of said column about said base.

9;, An outboard drive for motor boats comprising asuspension base to be fastened to a boat, a

suspension column rotatively mounted. on said basehaving a circular gear track, a rudder rotatably mounted on said column, 'a manually operated control shaft rotatably mounted in said base, .a pinionfixed to said control shaft meshing with said. gear track to rotate saidcolumn relative to saidv base, a. gear mounted on said rudder, a second gearmeshing with said first meshing gear, a shaft upon which said second gear is fixed, a pinion carriediby said shaft and said suspension base having a gear track with which said last: named pinion meshes so that upon rotation'of saidcolumn about said base said rudder 'is' simultaneously rotated.

10.'An outboard drive for motor boats comprising. a suspension'base to be fastened to a boat, a suspension column rotatively mounted on said. base having a circular gear track, a rudder rotatively mounted on said column, a manually operated control shaftrotatably mounted in said base, avpinion fixed to said: control shaft meshboat, a suspension casing rotatably mountedupon said base having a circular gear track, a suspension column secured to said casing at one end,

thereof and extending at right angles thereto,

said base having also a circular gear track, a

Worm gear located upon said columm-a: second worm gear meshing with said first namediworm gear, a shaft to which said last-named worm gear is fixed, a pinion upon said shaft 'meshing with said gear track upon said base, a tubular rudder stop secured to'said first named. worm gear, a rudder'carried by said stop, aisuspension tube mounted in said suspension column, a propeller and a drive casing therefor secured to said suspension tube, a thrust block upon said suspension column, a thrust ring secured to said block, said base'having anannular stave rail' cooperating with said thrust ring and against which saidthrust ring bears, drive means for said propeller extending through said base, casing. and column, a pinion meshing with said gear track in said casing, a shaft upon 'which'said last named pinion is mounted and manually operated means for rotating said shaft and thereby said casing and column relative to said base;

CHARLES SAMUELJOHNS C'N. 

